Absalom Greeley Explained

Absalom Greeley
Office1:	Ontario MPP
Term Start1:	1867
Term End1:	1870
Predecessor1:	Riding established
Successor1:	William Anderson
Constituency1:	Prince Edward
Party:	Conservative
Birth Date:	18 April 1823
Death Place:	Kansas City, Missouri
Children:	9

Absalom Greeley (April 18, 1823  - October 28, 1885) was the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Prince Edward in the 1st Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1870.^[1] Greeley ran on the political platform of the Reform movement; however he was thought to be a Yankee Tory; a conservative with American origins in the American Whig Party. He is also supportive of the Family Compact which is not consistent with a Reform platform.

Origins

Absalom Greeley is believed to have emigrated from Maine, U.S.A. with his parents in the early half of the 19th-century. His father had been a surveyor there. Although largely self-educated, he is credited with good learning and significant intellect.^[2] His place of residence after 1881 is unknown.

Political history

In 1869, he is reported in Toronto newspapers as supporting the extravagant expenses at the Governors residence in an attempt to curry favour with the Family Compact.^[3] He is also reported to have tried to sell his party nomination for a county seat as Reeve; an attempt which eventually failed and became public knownledge. Greeley did not run in the 1871 election. In 1881, Greeley was charged with forgery in the town of Picton, Prince Edward County.^[4]

Parliamentary Work

As an MPP, he worked on the following Committees:

Standing Committees

• Standing Committee on Printing
• Standing Committee on Standing Orders

Select Committees

• Select Committee to inquire into and report upon the endowment and utility of Upper Canada College and its relationship to the educational system
• Select Committee to enquire into the usefulness and cost of wooden railways as a means of furthering the settlement of the country
• Select Committee to consider Bill 33 Respecting Union Houses and Religious Worship
• Select Committee to consider Bill 14 registration of births and deaths and marriages
• Select Committee appointed to examine in to the working of the common and grammar school system of Ontario
• Select Committee to consider Bill 30, An Act for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Horticulture, Arts and Manufactures
• Select Committee to Revise the Standing Orders of this House Affecting Bills relating to Railways, Canals and Telegraphs
• Special Committee to consider the Municipal and Assessments Act

Notes and References

1. Web site: Census of Canada 1871 . https://archive.today/20130101032220/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1881/001049-119.01-e.php?id=ON_4320214 . dead . January 1, 2013 . April 17, 2011 .
2. Web site: Sarnia Observer: The Prince Edward Election. April 17, 2011.
3. Web site: The Globe February 23, 1869. April 17, 2011.
4. Web site: Defendant: Greeley, Absalom; Charged with Forgery: Prince Edward County RG 22-392. April 17, 2011.